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Wests Tisbury Shows Town Hall Plans

A $10 million-plus annual operating budget, a laundry list of
override requests that adds up to more than $800,000 and a town hall
expansion project with a $3.7 million price tag - next week when
the voters of West Tisbury gather to conduct the annual business of the
town, the prevailing winds are expected to be out of the pocketbook.

"Money is the theme, that's for sure, and I think there
is going to be a lot of debate about how we spend our money this
year," said West Tisbury selectman John Alley, who is also running
for re-election.

"The loss of revenue from the state is going to really hit
home this year and yes, I think it's on everyone's
mind," agreed Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter 3rd, the chairman of the
town finance committee who is running against Mr. Alley.

The annual town meeting begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the West
Tisbury School; town moderator Patrick Gregory will preside. Voters will
face a comparatively tidy warrant this year that includes 27 articles
and an array of spending requests for the coming fiscal year.

Topping the list is a proposal to expand and renovate the
132-year-old town hall in the heart of the West Tisbury village. The
cost of the project is now tagged at $3.7 million.

Plans to renovate and expand the historic three-story building have
been in the works since 1998 and have been marked by a couple of false
starts. In the spring of 2001, voters approved $75,000 for a feasibility
study and design work. Last year the building committee ran into
problems finding an architect and came back to the town asking for more
money, but voters balked and told the building committee to regroup.

And it did.

The current plan calls for building two additions, one on the Music
street side and the other on the back of the building. The one-story
addition on the Music street side of the building would house offices
and a meeting room. A three-story addition on the rear would mimic the
mansard-roof style of the original building and would include a ramped
entrance, an extra emergency exit and rest rooms. The plan calls for
renovating the original building as well to update the heating,
electrical and fire safety systems.

Voters will be asked to pay for the project through a 20-year bond.

One member of the building committee said this week that the project
deserves approval despite concerns about spending in an economic
downturn.

"It's a difficult year, obviously, but I think this is a
project that needs to be done," said building committee member
Joanne Resendes, who is also the principal assessor for the town.
"We've spent a great deal of time looking at this, and this
plan certainly fits the bill as far as we're concerned," she
added.

The town hall building committee will host an open house on Saturday
from at the town hall for town voters to view the plans and ask
questions. The open house will be held from 10 a.m. until noon.

In other business next week, voters will also be asked to approve a
$10.1 million operating budget for the coming year, an increase of nine
per cent over last year. School spending is up, both for the regional
high school and the up-Island regional school district. The town share
of the regional high school budget is up 11 per cent this year, and the
share of the up-Island regional school budget is up 10 per cent.

Changes in the way reimbursements are received from state Chapter 70
money left all Vineyard towns in a scramble this week over their school
budgets, but amendments are expected on the town meeting floor to
clarify the muddle and direct reimbursement money back to the local
schools for which it was originally intended.

In West Tisbury this year, school spending is not the only area that
will see increases. Money requests are up in many other town departments
as well, including the police department, where budget requests are up
13 per cent over last year, and the Lambert's Cove Beach
department, where budget requests are up 17 per cent. The total public
safety budget is up 11 per cent over last year; the assessors budget is
up 11 per cent and requests for general government spending are up 6 per
cent. The town share of the Martha's Vineyard Commission budget
will increase by 17 per cent.

Town leaders say nearly all of the increases can be tracked to lower
state reimbursements and do not represent expansion in town departments.

"This is just the funding for routine, normal expenses -
there are no additional staff or hidden programs this year," Mr.
Manter said.

Voters will be asked to chip in $6,850 as their share of the
administrative budget of the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority.
Similar requests will appear on the annual town warrants in all six
Vineyard towns this year, but in West Tisbury the request will also need
approval in the ballot box on Thursday as an override question.

Voters will also be asked to approve a handful of non-money
articles, including some routine personnel and zoning bylaw changes.

The financial management team was one recommendation that came out
of a recent review of town affairs by the state Department of Revenue.
The DOR report also recommended that the town discontinue the practice
of contracting with an outside company to do property revaluations every
three years, and instead conduct the revaluations inside the
assessors' department.

Voters will get the chance to make that choice at the annual town
election this year when they confront 18 separate requests for overrides
to the Proposition 2 1/2 tax cap. The override requests include the bond
issue for the town hall renovation project, $337,000 for the up-Island
regional school budget and another $221,000 for the regional high school
budget. Sometimes known as a "menu override," the long list
of requests also includes:

*$62,000 for the police department.

* $53,000 for the triennial revaluation in 2005.

* $20,000 to extend the hours for the free public library.

* $49,000 for two new police cruisers.

* $4,500 for the town share of the Martha's Vineyard Drug
Task Force Grant.

All told, the override requests add up to more than $833,000.

Mr. Alley said the selectmen decided to go for separate override
requests instead of a general override this year.

"We did it this way on purpose, so voters will have the chance
to look at each individual request and decide if they want it or
not," he said.